Create the perfect lighting effect in every situation: the new Eclipse range from ERCO and its modular system of accessories

Lüdenscheid, June 2020. The strategy is clear: ERCO with its Eclipse product range targets applications with the highest standards such as prestigious museums, art galleries and exclusive retail projects. With 28,000 product variants, the new system of spotlights already includes an exceptionally wide range of solutions for individual lighting tasks. But Eclipse also stays flexible in its application thanks to a modular concept with the optics and accessories - a decisive advantage, especially when used extensively in display and exhibition lighting. This gives lighting designers and practitioners the opportunity of modifying properties such as light distribution, light colour and visual comfort to the specific task precisely, simply and at the same time reversibly.

A central requirement of lighting concepts for museums, galleries and luxury retail projects is flexibility: this is because exhibits, exhibitions, forms of display, seasons and ranges evolve and change over the lifespan of the lighting system. The Eclipse spotlight system is perfectly prepared for this because the luminaires are not only freely positionable and alignable on the track, but their photometric characteristics can also be varied and modified with the use of appropriate accessories. Users can therefore on the one hand configure highly specific tools from the Eclipse range for individual tasks. On the other hand, museum technicians or visual merchandisers in the design-conscious retail trade can also build up a versatile stock of lighting tools with Eclipse spotlights in various sizes combined with the unparalleled range of matching accessories and are thus perfectly prepared for changing requirements.

A twist for a new light distribution

The key to the flexibility of Eclipse is the modular design of the complete system. The optics, in the form of lens units, can be replaced with one hand without tools and exchanged for optics with different characteristics. The secure twist-and-lock interface between the luminaire body and lens unit is continued as an accessory connection at the front of the lens units and accessories. In this way, lens units and up to three accessories can be combined- providing almost unlimited combinations for modifying the light distribution, the spectral composition of the light and for improved visual comfort.

With the appropriate lens units as accessories, the user can thus transform a narrow beam Eclipse spotlight with spot light distribution into a floodlight with wide flood distribution "with the flick of a wrist" - or else into wide flood, extra wide flood, oval flood, oval wide flood or wallwash light distribution. ERCO speciality features such as the ultra-compact Zoom spot and Zoom oval optics can also be retrofitted or exchanged in this way, as can the precise, high lumen-output and particularly user friendly new framing attachment for crisp-edged projections.

Lenses modulate the characteristic

Eclipse lens units already offer an unusually wide range of different beam characteristics with symmetric, oval and asymmetric light beams. However, ERCO's accessory lenses for Eclipse provide additional scope for matching the light beam to the lighting task: the Softening Lens spreads the beam slightly and creates a softer gradient with perfect uniformity at the centre. The Sculpture Lens on the other hand is a familiar and highly proven tool particularly in the field of museum lighting - it spreads the light beam oval cross-section for illuminating the typical proportions of sculptures. The Sculpture Lens is freely rotatable in order to match the illumination to elongated objects or target surfaces in any position.

Filters modify the light spectrum

The spectral composition of light not only has an atmospheric effect in a room in the form of a warm or cool light colour but also strongly influences the colour perception of illuminated materials, surfaces and objects. ERCO offers no less than six different LED spectra from 2700K to 4000K for Eclipse, thus already covering many specific lighting requirements. For fine tuning purposes, the four conversion filters Cold Filter, Cold Filter Plus, Warm Filter and Warm Filter Plus generate 24 additional colour nuances from these six LED spectra. The Blue Light Filter absorbs blue components in the spectrum and thus reduces the damage factor to an absolute minimum for especially sensitive exhibits or high illuminance levels. With this filter and the additional Skin Tone and Food special filters, no wishes remain unfulfilled in terms of matching the spectrum.

More visual comfort through anti-glare elements

Eclipse lens units feature exceptional visual comfort even in their standard state of configuration due to their minimal luminance at the light aperture. For special applications in display lighting, for example high-contrast effects in very dark surroundings, professionals often require additional anti-glare elements that can be fitted to Eclipse as accessories. These elements include snoots, i.e. additional anti-glare cylinders in suitable shapes for spotlights and wallwashers, as well as honeycomb louvres and barn doors. In addition to the standard 4-fold model, the special 8-fold barn doors for Eclipse are a boon: they are highly variable and can also be closed, completely light-tight, on the sides.

It is no coincidence that the design and functionality of Eclipse, as well as the scope of its accessories, are reminiscent of other precision optical products such as professional camera systems. Just as photographers equip themselves with an extensive camera system for any shooting situation, lighting designers with Eclipse have an extremely high-performance, flexible and future-proof toolbox that sets no limits in the creative use of light.